Captain America and lady tsunade looked down at the street below. The unalaq water tribe soldiers had secured the entrance, but the metal bending police and the water tribe soldiers were filing in a short distance away for a counteroffensive. And at the front was president Bradley, holding the two kiba swords the weapons of seven ninja swordsmen of the mist.
Bradley waved his subordinates off, and began to walk toward the entrance.
captain America watched him incredulously. "Are you serious? He's storming the front?"
Bradley looked up at Central Command with a furious scowl. "Do they really expect me to make a complete mockery of myself by entering through the back door of my own palace?"
He brandished his swords, and abruptly started to run.
captain America yelled. "Benders, keep back!"
one of The tank began to fire its machine gun, but Bradley's ultimate eye allowed his vision to pinpoint exactly where the bullets were coming from. From there, he was able to deduce exactly where they were headed, and figured out what he needed to do to avoid them.
He continued running forward, dodging most of the bullets and deflecting the rest with his sword.
The Briggs soldiers in the tank gaped in disbelief.
"What?!"
"Impossible!"
They fired an artillery round directly at Bradley, but he was once again able to neatly dodge the explosive projectile, and the round skidded down the street uselessly.
Seeing that Bradley was about to be right on top of them, the driver of the tank panicked and put the tank into reverse. The tank smashed into the walls of the main entrance, and flew into the middle ramp that was meant to transport trucks and heavy equipment up the shaft, continuing on up to get away from Bradley.
Bradley continued to run forward, carefully avoiding bits of flying glass and debris. The tank's retreat had caught many of the Briggs soldiers by surprise, and Bradley took advantage of their distraction and cut many of them down, including the unlucky Sergeant Brosh.
Brosh collapsed to the ground, blood gushing from a massive cut on his chest, and as his vision began to fade, he was able to glimpse Bradley leaping onto the ramp and giving chase to the tank.
He swallowed, and could feel the metallic taste of blood on his tongue. At least…Maria's still alive…
He closed his eyes and breathed no more.
The tank continued to retreat, and had once again opened fire on Bradley, but this proved just as ineffective. Getting desperate, they fired another artillery round, hoping that the enclosed environment would make it more difficult for him to dodge.
The artillery round zoomed down the shaft and hit the ramp with a massive explosion, sending up smoke and debris.
The soldier driving the tank began to slow down the vehicle down, and peered carefully down the shaft. "Did we hit him?"
His eyes widened. "Ah!"
Bradley had skillfully avoided the attack, and had taken advantage of their slowed speed to catch up. He leaped up, grabbed the roof of the tank, and stuck his sword in through the window, impaling the face of the soldier driving the tank.
His partner yelled in alarm. "AAHH!"
Bradley leaped away, and the third soldier in the tank tried to bring his comrade back to his senses.
"Take over the controls!"
"Uh, yes sir!"
He took control of the tank, but before he could do anything, Bradley pinpointed the weak points in the tanks' underside, and surgically cut through them, causing the tracks of the tank to unravel and bringing it to a halt.
The third soldier poked his head out and held up a gun, trying desperately to get a shot at Bradley.
"Damn, where is he?"
Before he could react, Bradley swooped in and loped his head off. For good measure, he dropped a grenade into the hatch, and a few seconds later the inside of the tank exploded, disabling it and killing the last Briggs soldier inside.
Buccaneer and his men had retreated from the doors at the top, and looked at the entrance warily as smoke billowed out. Then, like a demon emerging from the underworld, Bradley appeared out of the smoke and stepped out into the open, still holding his two swords without a scratch on him.
The water tribe soldiers aimed ice spike at him, but he used fire style dragon flame justu.
Bradley paused, and surveyed the soldiers carefully.
lady tsunade frowned darkly. "I don't believe it. The old bastard just took out a tank."
Bradley, seeing that the soldiers didn't have the nerve to open fire, at least not yet, continued forward.
lady tsunade and rushed forward at Bradley with a war cry.
But just as lady tsunade was about to punch Bradley with lion strength but Bradley deftly dodged the attack and put a large gash in lady tsunade's shoulder, causing her to drop to his knees.
"lady tsunade!"
Bradley continued to move forward, but tsunade wasn't done. SHe rushed at Bradley again, Bradley avoided her again, and this time targeted tsunade's right arm, severing it from her body. lady tsunade fell to the ground with a grunt of pain.
coming from far kakashi used his sharingan to what was happening, who ran at the main gate, cried out in alarm. "No! lady tsunade!"
Bradley stood in front of her. "What's the issue here? Your city's leader has returned. Now open the gate for me."
no never a solider said. As he shakily held up a gun and pointed it at Bradley."Please forgive me, queen elsa, but looks like I'm dying here."
"That's enough of that. You can't die a heroic death!"
the soldier and Bradley looked back to see that lady tsunade had gotten to her feet, and was glaring at Bradley defiantly. "Don't even think for a second that you're going to die a heroic death than I am. I've got plenty of fight left in me."
Bradley scoffed. "How ridiculous. Humans always make a point out of being foolishly stubborn."
"Ah, you got that right. You know they always get so frantic in the heat of the moment. Heh, like it's gonna do them any good."
the water tribe soliders, lady tsunade and Bradley, looked around, trying to find who was speaking. After a moment, they realized that someone was perched on the roof directly above the main gate.
Greed grinned. "But, pathetic as it may be, and they sure are, I still prefer to side with the underdog."
Down at the bottom of the shaft, the Central soldiers began to overpower the remaining Briggs soldiers.
Over at the radio station, they had received the news of the president's return. Upon hearing this, they immediately stopped their propaganda campaign and instead simply urged the citizens to stay in their homes until the crisis was over.
Bradley looked up at Greed. "Long time no see, Greed. I hear Pride almost caught you and your little gang. If you had any sense at all, you would've stayed out of our sight for good."
Greed stood up. "Yeah, my avarice tends to make these decisions for me."
He coated his arms gray. "And right now, I want your life, Wrath!"
He leaped down and hit the ground with a hard impact, having put his ultimate shield on the bottom of his feet as well.
He stood back up with a grin, while lady tsunade watched him with an uncertain frown.
Who's this guy? Our backup?
Greed pointed at Bradley. "Rumor has it you died a fiery death in a train accident, but you look unscathed to me."
Bradley looked at him carefully. "You of all people should know how sharp my eyes are. It only took me a moment to evaluate a path among the falling rubble. The rest was just a matter of footwork."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "However, the years do take their toll. The whole ordeal left me with a few aches and pains."
Greed scowled and glanced in the direction of the shaft, where the remains of the ruined tank continued to smolder.
He's griping about being old when he's capable of this?
captain America looked at Greed uncertainly. "It's good to see you hunter,
hunter took over and waved. "Hey, I haven't seen you since fought off those ice villains. It's good to see you, captain rogers."
"likewise!" Captain America said.
I'll give you a hand." Hunter said.
He looked back at Bradley. "And I've got a score to settle."
Greed took back control and let out a vicious grin. "Ha, the truth is, we've both got a grudge to settle with this self-righteous old bastard. Come on!"
Greed rushed at Bradley, and the fight began. Captain America watched the unfolding battle between the two homunculi.
Bradley looked at Greed carefully. "Trying to hide in my blind spot, huh?"
Greed chuckled. "Yeah. The prince gave me a few good pointers on how to fight you."
"How helpful. Unfortunately for you…"Bradley said as he removed his eye patch, and Greed began to lose his edge.
The water tribe soldiers watched the fight grimly.
"He's gaining the upper hand."
"This is starting to look bad."
Then, at one point when Greed was forced to retreat, the soldiers made their move.
"Fire! Open fire!"
Three of the soldiers raised their rifles and fired at Bradley.
Greed scowled at them. "Dammit, stay out of this!"
Unfortunately for them, Bradley had heard the order to open fire, and just by looking at the soldiers could tell exactly when they were going to pull the trigger and where the bullets would go. Using this knowledge, he quickly dodged the volley of bullets, and cut the three soldiers down.
Blood gushed out, and lady tsunade rushed forward with an angry roar.
"No! You son of a bitch!"
Bradley once again dodged him, and stabbed her in the chest.
"lady tsunade!"
Bradley tried to pull the sword out, but couldn't, and was forced to retreat when tsunade swung her fist down.
Bradley looked at tsunade , mildly impressed. "You've got some rather impressive abs, huh?"
tsunade smiled grimly. "Now you've only got one of your fancy little swords to work with."
Greed shouted. "Are you trying to get killed, dumbass?! Then again, I do appreciate the help!"
While Greed and Wrath continued to fight, the rebel forces had eliminated the remaining water tribe soldiers at the bottom of the shaft. Before long they gained reinforcements, and were headed up to the main gate.
Greed stopped Bradley's sword with his hand. "This is getting intense."
"lady tsunade! Hang in there!" Captain America said.
Captain America glanced at lady tsunade, and could see that she had passed out.
"I guess it really is up to me." He grimaced.
He assumed command and gave out several orders.
"Hey, you men get lady tsunade someplace safe on the double, and administer first aid!"
"Right, yes sir!"
"Grab that gun, we're moving it!"
"Yes sir!"
They placed two machine guns on either side of the ramp, and by firing continuously were able to keep the advancing Central soldiers at bay.
One of the central soldiers grimaced. "Dammit. Those bastards only have two machine guns, and yet we're completely pinned!"
At the bottom of the shaft,
Suddenly, a series of smoke bombs went off, obscuring the visibility of the lobby.
The shadow coven soldiers looked around in alarm. "What the hell is going on?"
Then, an unseen foe began to knock the soldiers out one by one.
The officer tried in vain to see through the smoke. "Wait, I think I see something."
The handle of a sword hit the side of his head, and he fell to the ground.
Out of the smoke, two masked figures zoomed up the ramp.
captain America peered carefully down the shaft, and held out his hand.
"Hold your fire! It's one of the other heroes!"
The two warriors made their way to the top, and jumped at Bradley. Bradley was able to counter them, but was forced to retreat away from Greed.
Greed looked at the two warriors with a mixture of annoyance and affection. "I told you guys I could handle things on my own, but I do appreciate the assistance."
kakashi glanced at Greed. "It's no problem."
He returned his gaze to their enemy. "So, who is this we're fighting? I couldn't even leave a scratch on him."
Kotoha's eyes narrowed. "It's king Bradley."
kakashi gasped as he took in Bradley's appearance.
kakashi stood up straight, and put his mask away. "Well, this is the first time I've actually laid eyes on him."
He held up a sword, and glared at Bradley. "So now I know what the bastard who took my daughter's arm looks like!"
Greed, x23, and kakashi fought Bradley for several minutes, and while Bradley was able to hold his own, he knew he couldn't last much longer against three skilled opponents.
He looked at each of them carefully as he ducked, blocked, and parried. As good as I am, I can't keep this up forever. I need to find a weak point.
He noticed that Kotoha was still not quite used to the weight of her automail arm, and there was a brief moment after each swing where she was vulnerable.
There it is.
Bradley swooped in and sliced Kotoha's automail off.
Kotoha almost seemed to expect him to do this, however, and managed to catch him by surprise by kicking his hand. Bradley tried to move his hand out of the way, but was a little too slow. The kick caused Bradley's sword to fly high into the air, and it arced over the battlements and into the moat.
Greed grinned. "Clever."
Emboldened, Greed rushed in, thinking that he could easily beat Bradley now that he didn't have any weapons.
But just as he reached Bradley, the man whipped out two knives, stabbed Greed in the neck, and flung him against a nearby wall.
Greed smashed into the wall, creating a hole in the side of the battlements, and barely escaped falling down into the moat.
Greed clumsily got back to his feet, and looked at Bradley warily.
Where the hell did he get those knives? Damn, hunter must have swiped them off of one of the Briggs soldiers he killed. Clever bastard is always thinking one step ahead.
Kotoha and kakashi continued to fight Bradley, but with only one arm Kotoha no longer had the same edge, and only barely managed to dodge several killing blows.
Greed zoomed back in to rejoin the fray. "That's enough, Kotoha. Kakashi and I will take it from here."
Kotoha reluctantly retreated, clutching at her left shoulder.
She glanced at one of the water tribe soldiers. Most of them were with captain America at the head of the shaft, while one of them remained by lady tsunade's side.
tsunade stirred, and opened her eyes with a grimace.
"What a stupid time to go passing out."
she slowly sat up, and glanced down at the sword which was still embedded in her chest.
she clutched at it. "Forgot about this. I better keep it in or I'll just bleed to death."
He looked up, and saw that Bradley was still fighting against Greed and kakashi.
tsunade grimaced. "So she's still going strong."
kotoha nodded. "Yes. But I managed to get rid of his other sword."
tsunade glanced at her. "Hey, you've got automail. Did Bradley cut it off?"
kotoha bowed her head. "Yes. He cut off my original arm as well."
lady tsunade looked impressed. "Did he? Sounds like you've had even more fun than me."
With only two opponents, Bradley was beginning to push back. When Greed tried to keep him in place, he shifted his weight so that kakashi hit Greed instead of him.
"Ow! What the hell, man?!" Greed
"It's not like I meant—incoming!" Kakashi said.
Bradley swiped at them, forcing them to leap in two different directions.
Bradley kicked Greed in the face and sent him sprawling to the ground. For good measure, he put a knife on Greed's wrist, and pushed it down by stepping on it, pinning Greed in place.
Greed hissed in pain, and he tried to pull it out.
"Damn. Cheap son of a bitch."
With only one opponent now, Bradley quickly disarmed kakashi, sending his sword flying high into the air. He then threw his knife at kakashi, who managed to catch it just before it could hit him.
Bradley caught kakashi's sword, and they began to spar again with their weapons switched.
Bradley's swings became more powerful and aggressive. "Certainly makes a difference when you have a weapon you're more comfortable with."
He broke the knife, and slashed at kakashi's face. Kakashi hastily leaped back, but the blood gushed out of the gash in his forehead, temporarily blinding him. He hastily scrubbed the blood out of his eyes, but by then Bradley was already right in front of him.
"It's impressive how quickly you move. You're almost as old as I am. However, this is as old as you're going to get."
Bradley slashed the sword forward, sending kakashi flying to the ground, blood spilling out into the open air.
kotoha shrieked. "father!"
hunter shouted. "Kakashi!"
Bradley went in for the kill, but hunter flashed in and swept kakashi out of harm's way. Kakashi winced in pain, while hunter glared at Bradley.
Bradley fixed his gaze on him. "Well, if it isn't the young prince."
hunter could hear Greed growling in his head. Dammit, hunter. Ask me before you take over!
Bradley shook his head. "I can't help but recall the last time we fought when I took that girl's original arm. It seems that once again you'd risk your own life rather than give up on something that's not even worth fighting for."
kakashi breathed heavily. "Hunter, forgive me. My life isn't worth fighting for."
hunter snarled. "Don't give me that crap! Are you honestly telling me that I should be like him? A king should fight for his people, because he is nothing without them and your friend!"
He looked at Bradley furiously. "This man is about to sacrifice his own nation, his own people. I'll never become the monster that he is!"
kakashi coughed. "If you are truly a man worthy to be king, you must be able to accept some loss."
hunter looked at him in concern. "You need to rest. Please!"
kakashi looked down at the blood seeping from his body, and he let out a tired smile.
"You're right, young lord. I need rest. Time for this ninja to find rest."
He then hit hunter on the head, causing him to drop kakashi and collapse to the ground. Kakashi then rushed forward, giving hunter one last glance.
Young lord, become the king you're meant to be.
kakashi then ran at Bradley,"This ninja has no choice but to offer his retirement!"He revealed there to be several paper bomb on his chest then he used hand sign to activate them.
Everyone looked at him in shock.
captain America l's eyes widened. "What?"
hunter/Greed shouted. "You stubborn fool!"
kotoha screamed. "FATHER!"
kakashi leaped forward and grabbed Bradley by the hair. "I'm taking you straight to hell with me, Bradley! You bastard!"
Then, he saw Bradley's arm move. The next second, his sword was held out to the side, with the two tops of the bombs sitting on the blade.
kakashi winced. He saw the flames fizzle out uselessly, and felt the blood begin to flood out of the deep gash Bradley had just cut into his chest.
kakashi managed to hold onto Bradley's hair, but he now dangled limply against king Bradley, his grip weakening.
Even while sacrificing myself, I still couldn't lay a single scratch on him.
He closed his eyes. Young lord, please forgive my shameful death.
Bradley looked at the dying old man coldly, then all at once felt a sharp stabbing pain in his back, and saw a blade come out through his chest and impale Fu.
Buccaneer breathed heavily, clutching the hilt of the sword he'd just shoved into Bradley and kakashi. "You may have been given the eyes of a god, but even you can't dodge an attack if you can't see it coming!"
Bradley's eyes widened in shock and pain.
lady tsunade looked at kakashi with a grim smile. "All right, old man, maybe you're going to hell, but you aren't going alone. I'll keep you company on the way down."
lady tsunade returned kakashi's gaze, looking almost happy. "You have my gratitude. Thank you."
kakashi let out a sigh, and breathed no more.
Bradley scowled, and pushed both men away, and with a grunt of pain pulled the sword out of his chest.
He hastily turned around, and saw hunter storming toward him, yelling angrily.
Bradley managed to block the attack, but it had been so long since he had suffered such a serious injury that the pain was slowing his reaction time. And while hunter was keeping him occupied, kotoha swooped in, an angry, grief-stricken cry of fury emanating from her throat. She swept in past his defenses, and stabbed out his ultimate eye.
Working together, hunter and kotoha managed to herd Bradley over toward the hole in the wall. Bradley was slowly beginning to recover, and could see that they intended to push him off into the moat, but before he could counterattack, captain America took advantage of an opening. He raised a rifle, and shot Bradley in the shoulder. As capt had been in Bradley's blind spot, he could not avoid the attack, and the impact of the shot sent him falling backwards. King Bradley fell down into the moat, hit the water with a dull splash, and disappeared below the surface.
Everyone was still for a minute, with the exception of the Briggs soldiers mounting the machine guns, relieved that the fight was finally over.
hunter's eyes widened, and he rushed back.
"kakashi!"
hunter looked at kakashi's blood-soaked form in disbelief, and then his resolve hardened.
He looked at the soldiers seriously. "Get a doctor! A healer Someone who knows how to use alchemy! Hurry! I've got a philosopher's stone! Use all that you want!"
The soldiers bowed their heads in sorrow, not having the heart to explain that none of them could help, and that by the time they found someone who could, it would be too late.
"Somebody please! Is there nobody? Anybody?!"
hunter fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "No."
He put his hand over his face. "I have immortality, and I can't save even one of my subjects! Damn it!"
kotoha stood over the body of her father, and while she didn't cry out, several tears were leaking out of her eyes as well.
"lady tsunade"
lady tsunade was healing her fatal injuries but still coughed up some blood, and tilted her head up. "I'm still alive. That's a surprise. Though I doubt that will be much help."
With Bradley gone, captain America had returned his attention to the shadow coven soldiers coming up the shaft.
"Fire!"
captain America grimaced, as he knew they would run out of ammunition before long.
hunter looked at lady tsunade gratefully. "Because of you, sir, Bradley was dealt a fatal blow."
He bowed his head. "You made sure kakashi's death was not in vain."
lady tsunade looked at him with a thoughtful frown. "Hunter, listen. Or Greed. Whichever. If you feel like you owe me one, then do a small favor for me. Our orders are to keep this gate closed until we get the all clear from our General. I'm asking you to defend it for me. Surely you can do that. With your power, you might be the only one who could do it. So will you?"
hunter was silent for a moment.then He stood up and said Greed, you in?
Greed, who was uncharacteristically melancholy after kakashi's death, quickly responded. Yeah.
hunter coated his arms gray. "Kotoha , you stay back and fight with the men here."
kotoha nodded. "Right."
lady tsunade let out a shaky breath. "You'll do it?"
hunter bowed his head. "Yes, I promise I will. I am a man of my word. And I'll always keep their word."
hunter began to walk over to the shaft. Buccaneer leaned back with a smile, and died, his eyes reflecting the clear blue sky they could no longer see.